·BIG RACE FOR CARL:Carl Edwards picked a good time for his first
podium finish of 2010, finishing a strong second at Chicagoland.
He catapulted from 12th to 10th, and picked up 35
precious points over 13th place, now 74 ahead.

·DALE JR. GOES BACKWARD:Dale Earnhardt Jr.
had a brief stay in the Top 12, as his 23rd at Joliet dropped him
back to 13th. The #88 was not competitive at Chicagoland
and driver and team will need to find some momentum for the final push to
Richmond.

·REUTIMANN RACES INTO CONTENTION:David Reutimann’s
win at Joliet was a feel-good story, and the MWR driver also drove himself into
Chase contention, gaining two spots and 74 points on 12th place. Reutimann now sits within a one-race margin of 12th.
He was in Chase contention throughout 2009, and may be ready to make the final
jump.

·KAHNE HANGS TOUGH:KaseyKahne’s sixth at Chicagoland
gained him 34 points and another position on 12th. Kasey is just 120 points out in 17th, and has
the second most points (721) over the last five races.

RACE TO THE CHASE
COMPARISON CHARTS

Out of

2009Pts/13th

1-STEWART2884/+599

2-JGORDON2709/+424

3-JJOHNSON2672/+387

4-KU BUSCH2526/+241

5-HAMLIN2457/+172

6-EDWARDS2438/+153

7-NEWMAN2385/+100

8-KAHNE2336/+51

9-MONTOYA2321/+36

10-Ky Busch2298/+13

11-MARTIN2296/+11

12-Kenseth2295/+10

Out of

12th

13-BIFFLE2285/-10

14-Reutimann2219/-76

15-Bowyer2169/-126

16-VICKERS2149/-146

17-Burton2113/-182

21-Dale Jr1928/-367

25-Harvick1789/-506

Out ofout ofout of

2008pts/13th2007pts/13th2006pts/11th

1- KY BUSCH2881/+6251-JGORDON2911/+7901-JJOHNSON2789/+458

2-DALE JR2619/+3632-DHAMLIN2608/+4872-M KENSETH2721/+390

3-JBURTON2590/+3343-M KENSETH2565/+4443-J
BURTON2478/+147

4-C EDWARDS2509/+2534-J BURTON2491/+3704-KY
BUSCH2455/+124

5-J JOHNSON2494/+2385-C EDWARDS2473/+3525-M
MARTIN2451/+120

6-J GORDON2384/+1286-T
STEWART2429/+3086-K KAHNE 2445/+114

7-G BIFFLE2318/+627-J JOHNSON2423/+3027-DALE
JR2428/+97

8-M KENSETH2317/+618-K HARVICK2337/+2168-K HARVICK2408/+77

9-K HARVICK2308/+529-KY BUSCH2314/+1939-J GORDON2342/+11

10-T STEWART2305/+4910-C BOWYER2281/+16010-G
Biffle2342/+11

11-K Kahne2295/+3911-M
TRUEX2208/+87

12-D HAMLIN2283/+2712-Dale Jr2151/+30

13-C BOWYER2256/-2713-R Newman2121/-3011-T
Stewart2331/-11

14-B Vickers2188/-9514-KU BUSCH2074/-7712-D
HAMLIN2324/-18

15-D Ragan2185/-9815-J McMurray2040/-11113-C
Edwards2196/-146

20052004

1-JJOHNSON2672/+4391-JJOHNSON2850/+608

2-G BIFFLE2595/+3622-DALE JR2685/+443

3-T STEWART2587/+3543-J GORDON2648/+406

4-R WALLACE2442/+2094-T STEWART2548/+306

5-KU BUSCH2347/+1145-M KENSETH2481/+239

6-R NEWMAN2347/+1146-KU BUSCH2396/+154

7-M MARTIN2320/+877-B Labonte2390/+148

8-J MAYFIELD2285/+528-E SADLER2370/+128

9-E Sadler2276/+439-K Harvick2353/+111

10-D Jarrett2254/+2110-R NEWMAN2348/+106

11-J McMurray2233/-2111-J MAYFIELD2242/-106

12-C EDWARDS2200/-5412-D
Jarrett2221/-127

13-Dale Jr2195/-5913-J
McMurray2214/-134

14-K Harvick2149/-10515-M MARTIN2156/-192

15-J Gordon2134/-120

16-M KENSETH2104/-150

Eventual champion in italics

Underline denotes last driver with more than one-race margin
over 13th place. Until 2007, the most points you could lose to
another driver if you startedthe race was 156. With the extra five points for winning
instituted in 2007, you can now lose 161.